Toyota confirms Mazda CX-3 rival

Japanese giant confirms it will enter the baby SUV market.

Toyota confirms Mazda CX-3 rival

Japanese giant confirms it will enter the baby SUV market.

Drive car of the year judging and contenders: Family Car
Holden's defunct Commodore sedan is the sort of model normally found in our Best Family Car class, though we will have to wait until 2018 to see if its Europe-sourced replacement is a worthy contender. Until then, the Skoda Superb returns as carry-over champion, meeting the new Hyundai Sonata and four-cylinder Kia Stinger as practical-minded choices. View judging and contenders

Toyota confirms Mazda CX-3 rival

Toyota has used the unveiling of its latest concept car to confirm it will enter the segment to compete against the likes of the Mazda CX-3, Honda HR-V and Mitsubishi ASX.

The company revealed a second version of its C-HR concept today at the 2015 Frankfurt motor show; following from the original C-HR concept unveiled at the 2014 Paris motor show. The latest concept remains a highly stylised interpretation of a potential pint-sized SUV to sit beneath the RAV4, but Toyota Australia sales and marketing boss Tony Cramb is confident the final production model will be a hit in Australia.

"The stunning looks, compact packaging and outstanding agility inherent in the C-HR Concept mean the production car is definitely on our wish-list for Australia," Cramb said.

"Given the right specification, pricing and availability for our market, we would expect the C-HR production model to accelerate the already-hot demand for vehicles in the small SUV segment.

"Toyota is obviously keen to compete in what is the fastest-growing category across the entire Australian market, with sales up more than 30 per cent so far this year."

The C-HR Concept is built on Toyota's modular underpinnings which will form the base for the production model. No other details of the production car were revealed in Frankfurt but the company has confirmed the production model will debut at the 2016 Geneva motor show in March.